Stolen SPCA puppy turns up, finds new home

Share this:

Violet, who was missing for almost a month, now has a home and is healthy and happy. (Photo courtesy SFSPCA)

A puppy stolen from the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last month has been found safe, authorities said Wednesday.

Violet, a brown-and-white terrier mix, disappeared from the adoption center at 16th and Florida streets on Oct. 16 after an attendant left her momentarily alone in an observation room.

On Friday, an adoption center employee walking in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley saw Violet with a woman and called police, said Krista Maloney, spokeswoman for the SPCA.

The woman, Sonya Espinoza, 19, of San Francisco, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession, police said. Police said they’re trying to determine how she got the dog.

The adoption center employee, who did not want to be named, received a $500 reward for finding the dog. Maloney said he recognized Violet because she had whiskers under her chin that look like a tiny beard.

“When you see her up close, she has a really unique look,” Maloney said. “I think that was really helpful but I think it was also just luck. We did a good job getting the word out to everyone and were still getting tips here and there, but everyone was also just keeping an eye out for her and we got really lucky.”

Violet was originally brought to the shelter after being found abandoned in a garbage can, Maloney said. SFSPCA staff members were worried when she went missing because she hadn’t had all her parvo or rabies vaccinations.

She had also just been spayed and required close monitoring.

But Maloney said Violet seemed “happy and healthy and doing just fine” upon her return.

In fact, a San Francisco couple interested in adopting her the day before she disappeared have taken her home, where she is thriving under her new name — Lexi V. LaRoux — or Roux for short, said owner Bairam Jacobsohn.

Jacobsohn said he and his girlfriend were immediately drawn to the sweet demeanor of their “little bearded lady” and were sad when she went missing.

Now, they couldn’t be happier, he said.

“She sticks by us and doesn’t want to do anything but love us,” Jacobsohn said. “She’s been a miracle puppy.”